Sitthi retains world crown
[BODYBUILDING] Sitthi Charoenrith, who last year won Thailand's first World Amateur Bodybuilding title, made it two-in-a-row on Sunday by winning the gold medal at the World Amateur Bodybuilding Championship in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
The 33-year-old Sitthi from Surin became the first Asian to win the world crown last November. In fact, he finished second in the 80kg category in Shanghai, but became the winner after Spanish gold medallist Arturo Castaneda was stripped of the title for testing positive to banned drugs. The use of banned drugs has always been a problem in the sport, but authorities have cracked down in recent years. In a contest against muscular men from 21 countries, Sitthi, who has been training for 12 years, dazzled with his shapely body and fantastic muscles to bag the gold medal. Another Thai, Somkid Sumethovejakul, was sixth in the 65kg category. The Thai Bodybuilding Association sent only four to the contest. TBA president Pakong Kraingsak, who accompanied the Thai quartet to the Czech Republic, said he was very happy they brought honour and glory to Thailand. "The Thai Bodybuilding Association is quite pleased with the success of our athletes. Sitthi defended his world title in style and we are proud of him," he said. "The success in this competition will encourage us further in the forthcoming Asian Games in Doha, Qatar." The Thai bodybuilding squad will arrive back in Bangkok this afternoon.
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